Trump heaps blame on prince over killing of Jamal Khashoggi

Donald Trump says Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bears ultimate responsibility for Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi’s killing.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Jamal Khashoggi’s son Salah yesterday. Picture: AFP

US President Donald Trump, in his strongest remarks so far on the killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, says Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bears ultimate responsibility as de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia for the operation that led to the death of the journalist, indicating that the prince was “running things over there” in Riyadh.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal last night, Mr Trump said he wanted to believe the prince’s claim that lower-level officials were to blame for the October 2 killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, but suggested responsibility lay higher up.

Asked about Prince Mohammed’s possible involvement, Mr Trump said: “Well, the prince is running things over there more so at this stage. He’s running things and so if anybody were going to be, it would be him.”

Mr Trump said he was convinced King Salman had no advance knowledge of the incident, according to the Journal.

In his interview, Mr Trump said he had asked the prince several times about the matter. “My first question to him was, ‘Did you know anything about it in terms of the initial planning?’ ” Trump told the Journal, adding that the prince told him that he did not.

The President said he asked the prince “Where did it start?” And he said it “started at lower levels”. Asked if he believed the denials, Mr Trump told the newspaper: “I want to believe them. I really want to believe them,” he said.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani turned the blame on the US last night, claiming Khashoggi’s killing would have been unthinkable “without US backing”.

“I don’t think that any country would dare do such a thing without US backing,” Mr Rouhani said in remarks to cabinet broadcast on state television.

Forensic officers after searching a Saudi diplomatic car in Istanbul. Picture: AFP

Mr Rouhani said that before Khashoggi’s murder “it would have been unthinkable that in this day and age we would witness such an organised felony”. “It is extremely significant that an institution planned such a heinous murder. “The tribal group that is ruling that nation (Saudi Arabia) has a security margin. That security margin is that it relies on US backing. It is this superpower that is backing them.”

Donald Trump earlier accused Saudi Arabia of the worst cover-up in the history of cover-ups with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

It came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday imposed the first penalty on Saudi Arabia over the death, saying the US would revoke the visas of some Saudi officials implicated in Khashoggi’s death.

Mr Pompeo said he was also working with Treasury on whether to impose sanctions on those ­responsible for the killing.

“These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States,” he said. “We will continue to explore additional measures to hold those responsible accountable.”

Mr Pompeo was not more specific about who the revocations would affect, but the State Department later said 21 “Saudi suspects” would have visas revoked or be ­declared ineligible to enter the US. British Prime Minister Theresa May also said last night she would cancel visas that may have been issued to any of the suspects in the murder.

Stepping up pressure on the Saudi regime, Mr Trump said whoever thought of the idea of killing the Saudi journalist was “in big trouble”.

“They had a very bad original concept,” he said. “It was carried out poorly, and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups. It’s very simple. (The) bad deal should have never been thought of. Somebody really messed up and they had the worst cover-up ever. Whoever thought of that idea I think is in big trouble and they should be in big trouble.”

The President did not say what action should be taken if it was found that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of the journalist as Khashoggi’s visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. US intelligence reportedly believes the killing was carried out with the knowledge of the crown prince.

Mr Trump said he would leave the final decision on what action the US would take against Saudi Arabia largely up to congress.

The move is significant because Mr Trump has said previously he was reluctant to take moves which would harm the alliance and business partnership with Saudi Arabia. However, some members of congress have been more forthright in calling for sanctions to be placed on the desert kingdom.

“I think I am going to leave it pretty much to congress; congress has some very strong ideas both ways,” Mr Trump said.

“I’ve been told by certain senators ‘we want that investment to keep coming’, at the same time that doesn’t mean they are not going to do something, there has to be some kind of retribution, there has to be. I’ve been told by others they don’t want (Saudi) investment of $US450 billion, I think that’s foolish but there is some that feel that.”

The President said he should be fully briefed within a day on what the US knows about the killing when CIA director Gina Haspel returns from her visit to Turkey where she was looking into the circumstances of Khashoggi’s death. Vice-President Mike Pence called the “brutal murder” an “assault on a free and independent press”, while slamming Riyadh for engaging in “deception”, though he stopped short of promising sanctions.

The US is under pressure to do more to punish Saudi Arabia after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogen revealed on Tuesday night a chronology of the murder which he said proved that it was a carefully pre-planned event. Mr Erdogan said a 15-member team of Saudi officials arrived in stages in Istanbul to carry out the killing, and included generals, intelligence officers and forensic officials.

“It is clear that this savage murder did not happen instantly, but was planned,” he said. “It will not satisfy the public by just pinning this kind of matter on a few security and intelligence officers. Covering up this kind of savagery will hurt the conscience of all ­humanity.”

Turkish authorities yesterday conducted searches of a villa near Istanbul and a car believed to ­belong to the Saudi consulate.

The crown prince, who is today to make his first international speech since the killing, and his ­father King Salman offered their condolences to Khashoggi’s brother Sahel and son Salah during a meeting in Riyadh. A friend of the Khashoggi family said that Salah has been under a travel ban since last year.

Additional reporting: Reuters, AP

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia